Voting sites change for 14,500 in Hollywood

About 14,500 voters recently learned they will have to go to a different polling place to cast a ballot in January.

They were able to learn about the change, that is, if they squinted to read the small print in the notices the county recently sent out.

A Hollywood city commissioner and several candidates are complaining that Broward County election officials did not do enough to alert voters to changes in 12 polling locations. They want new notices sent out within the next week. However, plans for a special mailing are stalled until the city and county officials determine who will pay the estimated $6,000 bill.

The county on Nov. 27 issued new registration cards to voters whose precincts have changed. But critics say those voters would have had to notice a four-word sentence - "Polling Place Change Notice" - in small type near the bottom of the card.

"Most people like me would have put the cards in their pockets and not noticed any changes," said Commissioner Sal Oliveri. "We've already got a problem with low voter turnout. If you give people reasons not to vote, then the problem is going to get worse."

Oliveri, who is not running for re-election, represents District 3, site of most of the precinct changes. The district includes most of the city's central residential neighborhoods, including Hollywood Hills.

Most of the location changes are permanent, but some are temporary. Some residents will have to drive to a different district to vote.

Election officials said they've already done what is required by sending out the new cards.

"We've always done it this way, and we do changes in every city in nearly every election," said executive assistant Fred Bellis. "This is the first time anyone has ever complained."

Among those with a new permanent voting location is Hollywood Hills resident Lisa Self, who says she has voted for more than a decade at a church less than a mile from her home. Self received a new voting card but didn't realize she had been assigned a new precinct until a neighbor told her days later.

Pete Brewer, a commission candidate who has written a number of protest letters to county and city officials in recent weeks, said voters, especially the elderly, will become confused on election day and give up.

Commission candidate Heidi O'Sheehan said she's resorted to alerting district residents to the changes during her door-to-door campaign.